Cellulite is a condition of the skin characterized by the presence of hard lumps of fatty material surrounded by fibrous connective tissue that gives the skin an orange peel appearance. It is caused by degeneration of subcutaneous blood vessels and results in a thinning of the dermis and pooling of body fluids. Cellulite occurs most often on the thighs, buttocks, and upper arms of Caucasian females and is often associated with obesity.
Current treatments for cellulite include mechanical massage, exercise, weight loss, diet, and topical drug treatment. None of these treatments are very effective or long lasting. There is a need for a more effective and longer lasting way to smooth the skin of people suffering from cellulite.
Prior art has focused on damaging or removing the fatty tissue to cure cellulite and remove adipose tissue. The method may not be effective due to the fact that connecting tissue, not fat, is the true cause of cellulite. Heating of the fatty cells may be beneficial to a certain degree if the cells are encouraged to metabolize fat faster. However, the appearance as a result of damaged and dead fatty cells is not attractive cosmetically unless the residue is removed in a liposuction therapy.
Other prior art teaches stimulating the generation of new collagen with a variety of optical, electromagnetic, and cosmetic means. U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,914 issued Sep. 3, 2002 to Constantino teaches the use of ultrasound to build additional fibrous tissue through the normal body repair mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,216 issued Oct. 22, 2002 to Knowlton teaches the use of a radio frequency generator to heat and ablate sub-dermal fat and regenerate collagen for skin tightening. RF energy is known to be highly absorbed in fatty tissue, which works in the opposite way to the present invention that avoids melting fat tissue.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,673,096 issued Jan. 6, 2004 to Lach teaches the simultaneous delivery of infrared laser radiation in the range of 650 to 1295 nm and massage devices. It is specifically stated that the objective of the invention is to heat deep layers of tissue and cause lipolysis or decomposition of fatty tissue. This range of wavelengths may heat the fatty tissue but not targeting the connective collagen as in the present invention. In addition, it is not stated that any fluence levels is required and may be trying to perform bio-stimulation with low-level radiation. The present invention clearly requires adequately high fluence levels to shrink or denature collagen and does not require bio-stimulation to be effective.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,080 issued Aug. 12, 2003 to Altshuler et al. teaches a method of selectively targeting fatty tissue while avoiding damage to tissue for the purpose of fat removal. The present invention proposes exactly the opposite in order to alter the collagen containing connective tissue, which is the true cause of cellulite and to disrupt the adipose tissue. Altshuler et al. teaches that the optical absorption spectra of fatty tissue is very different from the absorption spectra of surrounding tissue because of the presence of vibrational modes in the molecules of lipids that form fatty tissue. Since both fatty tissue and water based tissue such as collagen can both be found in the same parts of the skin, the difference in these two optical absorption spectra allows a way to selectively target only one of the types of tissue while reducing the heat absorbed by the other; and henceforth preserving it. Altshuler et al. teaches only the ability to heat fat while sparing tissue. Altshuler et al. does not teach that the opposite can be applied under special conditions. Moreover, Altshuler et al. does not mention cellulite in his work involved with different wavelengths.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,169 issued Apr. 19, 1994 to Sand and U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,709 issued Dec. 11, 1990 to Sand teach that collagen goes through several stages of alteration when heated. At temperatures lower or around 50° C., collagen is not affected. At about 60° C., collagen may contract and shrink by about 30% without denaturization or permanent damage to the structure. It has been shown that at these temperatures the shrinkage is long term and the collagen remains viable. At temperatures >65 deg C. however the collagen will denaturize and lose its elasticity and collapse. When this happens to a connective fiber the fiber may weaken, stretch, and possibly break.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,253 issued Jul. 2, 2002 to Koop et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,451,007 issued Sep. 17, 2002 to Koop et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,274 issued Mar. 23, 1999 to Fullmer et al. teach a mid-IR laser directed to the surface of the skin with energy densities of 10 to 150 J/cm2 and pulse widths of 5 to 500 msec. A pulsed cryogen cooling system is used to protect the epidermis by spraying a burst of R134a cryogen onto the treatment site immediately pre or post laser treatment.